


A Hero's Work Is Never Done

by Naddpole



Category: NADDPOD - Fandom, Not Another D&D Podcast (Podcast)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 11:36:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naddpole/pseuds/Naddpole
Summary: The gang stops at a small town called Riverbend on their Journey. While they are there they learn more about the chose, and quite possibly find the key to beating them for good.This loosely follows NADDPODs journey, and events/ characters are a little different to fit the story. I hope you enjoy.
Relationships: Hardwon Surefoot/ OC
Kudos: 5





	1. An introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short chapter to introduce the story, the rest of the chapters will be longer and get into the nitty gritty. I hope you enjoy!

When you were a child you thought Riverbend was paradise on Earth. Tucked away the small sleepy town was obscured almost entirely by trees, letting green light filter in, softly illuminating the thatched roofed houses. Strangers rarely came through town, but when they did your people clothed, fed, and cared for them with no questions asked.  
Unfortunately, being tucked away in obscurity made it easy for others to take advantage of your town and your people. The Chosen had begun smuggling their men through, stealing resources until the fields lay barren. Every time they came through they depleted your resources until your people starved. Those who stood against them were cut down where they stood. One day they came and recruited all the men in town for “the light”. They tore boys from their parents. All the male children between five and ten were rounded up. Luckily most of the boys were either in the fields looking after what little livestock was left, tending the meager crops, or scouring the forest for anything edible. Sometimes, you still had nightmares of Aaron being ripped from your mothers arms as she sobbed, begging for mercy. Aaron was supposed to be the next Chancellor of your town. Your people’s future was ripped away from them as the soldiers took your brother from his mother’s arms. Two days later a scout found Aaron’s body dumped in a ditch on the side of the road. His sandy brown hair was matted in blood, and somehow his little face still looked angelic covered in scrapes and bruises. You had known he wouldn’t go quietly, but deep down you hadn’t thought these people, who claimed to be worshipers of a merciful god, would kill a child.  
Your father was long dead, and your mother took to bed in her grief. The town had turned to you to lead. The council of elders was there to guide you, but for the last six years you and your sister had run the town, keeping the people fed and safe. In whatever time you had left over you had trained tirelessly in weaponry and the healing magic that ran in your family, while your sister studied with the towns mages, setting illusions to give Riverbend the appearance of a ghost town.  
It was half past midnight when your eyes snapped open, something felt off. You heard the unmistakable sound of the front door creaking open. Soundlessly you slipped your crossbow off the wall, and strapped your sword and dagger to your hip. Weighing the pros and cons you quickly tied your mass of black curly hair out of your face. Seconds were precious, but if there was a fight to be had downstairs, it would be to your benefit to make sure your hair wouldn’t fall in your eyes. Finally, you crept to the foot of the stairs, your feet silent in the still night air. You looked up to find your sister, her blonde hair shimmering almost silver in the moonlight. Shen gives you a quiet nod, and you see the arcane energy crackling at her fingertips. The tow fo you moved like the wind, silent and swift, until you found the fighters making camp in your living room.  
Your sister had cast enough illusion spells that the travelers probably thought this was a long abandoned town, a safe haven for them to make camp and hide, but the amount of weapons and the caliber of their armor made your nervous. There were three of them. Two possible elves, you knew magic most likely ran in their veins, and a child halfling. There were too many variables in the party for you to feel comfortable sleeping peacefully in the night.  
Slowly and surely you aimed your crossbow at the child and nodded to Shen, letting her know to drop the veils around them. Suddenly the female elf and the child spun to face them. For the first time you noticed the man’s clothes were stained with blood, his face pale and twisted with pain. Even so, he was still the most beautiful man you had ever seen.  
“State your purpose” your voice was low and deadly, you wanted them to know you were not someone to be trifled with, “State your purpose or I let go of my bow string, and I warn you, I haven’t missed in a long, long time.”  
“Please” the woman spoke up, her voice was desperate. You took note of her appearance now, her wild beauty was unlike anything you had ever seen. She was breathtaking even in the dim light. You heard a soft gasp and rolled her eyes. Shen was probably already in love with the elf woman. Hopefully she was friend and not foe. “Our friend, he needs help. We were attacked by the chosen trying to get back to the younin’s mother. We mean you know harm. But Hardwon he needs help… he’s going to… he needs help quick and we’re both tapped out.”  
Every word the elf woman said dripped with desperation and your heart felt for them. The boy looked to be a few years younger than you, but they reflected a seriousness of a much older person, of a person who has had too much sadness and responsibility set on their shoulders, like yours.  
You rushed forward and sat on the floor next to the man. Up close you could see man had the pointed ears of an elf, with the close cropped beard of a human. A half-elf. You looked up at Shen and gave directives, “Give these people rooms for the night and feed them in the morning. We will hear their story then. I’ll heal the man, please take care of anyone who comes looking for me in the morning, and bring mama breakfast?”  
Shen nodded and gestured to the two others to follow her, “Don’t worry, he’s in good hands, his healing will take some time, come get some rest.”  
As the footsteps faded deeper into the house you gently pressed your hands to the man’s chest and closed your eyes. Taking a deep breath you looked deep within yourself to find the bundle of healing energy that lived at your core. Gently you nudged the energy forward and formed it into threads and lead it up your body and down your arms, letting it flow into the man’s body. You focused and repairing his blood vessels first, making sure his heartbeat was strong and steady before mending cut muscles and bruised bones. Finally you mend the cracked ribs on his left side, slowly creating a bridge between the splinters. He would be sore and weak in the morning, but he would live. Your eyes fluttered open and the bright morning light flowed in the windows, obscured by the curtains, that would block curious looks. The man would sleep deeply for the next few hours and you stood, dizzy and nauseous.  
Strong arms lifted you and kept you steady on your feet.  
“Well I ain’t ever seen a youngin do a healing like that before.” The elf woman kept you steady on your feet, looking at you with curiosity. “No chanting spells, and you don’t look like a paladin who can lay hands.”  
“Its a power that is passed through my family line, Counselors of Riverbend are charged with protecting their people, there are powers that come with that role.” You were curious about this woman but you wish your head would stop pounding. Healing came directly from your life force and you were weary with the amount of energy you had used.  
The two of you moved to the kitchen and you sat your body in a chair at the table, a cup of hot tea was placed in front of you and you nodded your thanks to the serving girl.  
“Your sister wanted to speak with you, when your healing was over.” the girl’s voice was quiet, like she wasn’t quite sure she should be speaking up at all, “I’ll go fetch her ma’am.” With a quick bob of a courtesy she fled the room.  
“I didn’t know you were royalty” the woman had made herself at home in the kitchen, but whatever was coming from the stove smelled heavenly, so you couldn’t bring yourself to care.  
“Should I be calling you ladyship?”  
“No no,” you waved an annoyed hand, “I have no official title. Technically my mother is Chancellor, but she… well she isn’t up to it right now. So the duties fall to me. My sister helps me a lot of the time, but I do better in public than she does.”  
“That sounds like a lot of work for a youngin” the woman’s voice wasn’t quite laced with pity, but with understanding. She had a disarming way of making you want to open up.  
“I’m Corrine, by the way, Corinne DuMonte” You smiled, feeling better after having some of the tea enter your body.  
“Oh Melora! Where are my manners. I’m Moonshine. Crick Elf extraordinaire. The boy I was with yesterday is Beverly, and the man who nearly kicked the bucket yesterday is Hardwon Shorefoot.”  
“You should NOT have done that,” Shen breezed into the room, clean and well dressed, looking positively radiant in the morning light. You had envied your sister’s looks your whole life. She looked like a summer goddess any where she went. Shen’s hair was reminiscent of the silk that came from corn in the fall, her skin was constantly sun kissed, even in the dead of winter, and her figure was tall and willowy.  
If your sister was the goddess of the sun, you were the chosen daughter of the moon. Your hair was a thick mass of black curls, your alabaster skin housed your large ruby lips and blue eyes. No one would describe your figure as willowy, in fact you had many a midwife tell you your hips would bear children easily, and your chest would feed them with ease.  
“Tell me Shen,” you sighed, “Why should I have not healed a man who was dying in our home?”  
“I have no issue with healing him,” she rolled her eyes at your apparent lack of insight, “You shouldn’t have brought him back to mint condition. You’ve worked through your meeting with the elders, I let them know you would miss it, and you’re out of healing energy. We’ve three girls who are days away from giving birth. What will happen if one of the babes comes early?”  
“Then a babe comes early. There isn’t a lot of healing involved in birth. You could have handled an emergency.”  
You stopped as heavy footsteps made their way toward you. You turned and behind you stood the man. Standing and healthy he took your breath away. There was something about him that just screamed masculine.  
“Hi,” his voice was deep and seemed to caress you. Your eyes made contact and you couldn’t look away. You were completely and totally bewitched. “Good morning. Uhm.. Thank you, for yesterday.”  
“O-of course,” you cursed yourself under your breath. This wasn’t like you. You didn’t let men get to you. There was a reason why other girls your age were up to their chins in babes, and you were still unmarried. You had more important things to worry about than silly hormones, but oh these hormones. Or maybe it was just his man.  
“Mmm. You cooking Moonshine? I do love your breakfasts,” Hardwon tore his eyes away from you, and for a moment the spell was broken.  
“Sure am,” Moonshine’s eyes were on you, “we all could use some good home cooking. Some rest… some… relaxation.” Moonshine winked at you as she brought some plates to the table. Shit, she knew. She knew the carnal reaction you were having to this man. And you didn’t like the mischievous glint that flashed in her eye.


	2. 2

You ate quickly and rushed upstairs to bathe and change. You felt oddly rejuvenated, it had been so long since someone you knew had cooked for you because they wanted to. You quickly braided your thick hair and tied it back in a knot. You took a deep breath and headed back downstairs. You saw that the three travelers had set into a sort of routine. The boy was mending clothing while Moonshine seemed to be taking store of their rations and adding to their medicines, finally Hardwon was sharpening, cleaning, and tending to their weapons.

As you came down the stairs the boy saw you first. He hopped to his feet and bowed deeply.

“Good morning gentle lady. My name is Beverly Toegold IV.” You couldn’t help but smile at Beverly, something about him was so endeering. 

“I have been called many things, gentle has never been one of them.” You walked down into the room and smiled at them. “So now that you’ve had some time to rest. Tell me your story.” All three looked at each other and attempted to tell you the important parts of their journey. The main parts you gleaned let you know that your paths aligned. The end goal was to, somehow, take down The Chosen and stop Thiala. 

“Well you can find refuge here for as long as you’d like. You’ll stay as my guests. We are currently in the middle of our harvest feast anyway. Tonight the whole town will gather and feast. There will be music and wine. It's a time for us to be one. I’ll spread the rumor that your families are friends of my mothers. She lived outside Riverbend before she married my father.” 

“Oh!” Beverly looked surprised “Is your father here? We should say hello. Pay our respects.” 

“I’d rather.. Not” Hardwon said, “I don’t do well with dads. They don’t tend to like me. I do ok with moms. I could meet your mom instead. Y’know, if that's open to negotiation.”

“My father’s been dead since I was a child, and my mother hasn’t been out of bed in four years.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Beverly turned away and looked at Moonshine, redness climbing up his neck and face.

“It's alright,” You put your hand on his shoulder gently, “You couldn’t have known. The Chosen… they’ve put my people through a lot.” You weighed your choices before telling them the story of your ongoing struggle with the chosen. The amount of energy it takes from your sister to ward against passing strangers. How you had been running things for the past 3 years. Since you were 17 years old. How your brother’s tomb was always covered in fresh flowers, the only place your people had to grieve for the sons you had lost. Finally how the girls in town had been forced to marry and breed as quickly as possible, to insure the future of the people. 

You stopped there, you had almost shared the guilt you felt not taking up that burden as well. Leaving the work you hadn’t wanted to the other girls your age. Someone in your family would need to carry on the bloodline, or the powers the great mother had bestowed on your family to protect River Bend would die with you. 

You hadn’t realized that you had gotten lost in your own thoughts when a pair of arms enveloped you. The denim of Moonshine’s overalls was abrasive against your face, but you melted into her touch.

“I don’t pretend to know all your troubles youngin” her voice was soft, the way you talked to horses when they were feared, “but I can understand some of your struggles.”

You allowed yourself another moment of weakness before taking a deep breath and standing tall, your chin held proudly. 

“Please. Take free leave of anything you need here; food, water, clothes. What I have here is free to you. I need to change and say my harvest prayers. Any of you are welcome to come.” You turned quickly and fled once again up the stairs.

Upstairs you rang for one of your ladies to help you dress for the holiest day of the year. One of the ladies dropped a shift over your body while the other one began to lace your corset. You cursed under your breath. It was next to impossible to fight in one of these things, not to mention the heavy skirts that would come with it. You held onto your bedpost as one of the ladies placed a delicate foot into the center of your back and pulled the laces tight. With the corsets help your waist could be deemed delicate. Your body would be considered desirable by any of the men in town, without a doubt, but you couldn’t help but wonder what a half elf would think of it. 

You looked through your gowns and groaned in frustration. 

“Why don’t I listen to Shen when she tells me to go to the tailor” you sighed and your lady speaks up. 

“If it's not too much for me to say lady,” she paused, waiting for your permission to speak, you nodded slightly, “this one would be appropriate,” she pulls out a crimson dress that you had worn many times before, “but if you are looking to.. Make an impression. I think this one would be best.” She lay out a dress that belonged to your mother. The bodice and skirt were a beautiful sapphire silk, with silver and gold flowers stitched in intricate patterns, winding up the skirt. You longed to wear the dress in front of you. You wondered what Hardwon’s reaction would be when he saw you in it. What’s worse is you wondered what his reaction would be if he could see you now. 

“I- I can’t fight in it,” you protested weakly, reaching out to touch the softest silk you had ever felt. 

“Begging my ladies pardon but.. You can’t fight in a corset. There will be plenty of warriors present tonight, and your sister’s veil hasn’t failed in a long time.

“Well… If you think this would be best.” you nodded and turned your body, allowing her to dress you. Even you had to admit you looked breathtaking. 

You knocked at your sister’s door and smiled at her simple gold sheath. It would be scandalous for anyone else to wear something so simple, but somehow she still looked like sunshine incarnate. You took her hand and squeezed.

“I know I don’t tell you often,” you whispered, “but I wouldn’t have survived the last few years without you. I love you.”

Shen squeezed your hand back. 

“You know that’s not true,” she laughed. I do what I can to ease your burden, but you were always the strong one.”

“I’m not as strong as I look, anyway. As my thank you I’ve asked for Moonshine to be seated next to you tonight, and I’ve given all the servants except Mother’s the night off.” You raised your eyebrows and Shen giggled devilishly. 

“So I guess Hardwon will have to help you out of that corset then?” You smacked her shoulder and laughed. 

“Perhaps, If he’s interested in the job.” The two of you walked down the stairs giggling, pretending not to realize the travelers in question just happen to be at the bottom of the stairs. You turned abruptly and smiled brightly, taking them by surprise. 

“We’re going to the temple to say our Harvest Prayers. You’re welcome to come if you’d like.” 

“Uhm. Yeah. Yeah. I should walk with you,” Hardwon was looking as hard as he could, just past your shoulder. You took a step toward him and his eyes flicked toward you, landing on your cleavage for a moment before looking into your eyes. He swallowed hard and you knew you had him where you wanted him. If you could take him for a tumble in bed, surely he would be out of your mind. You touched the ring on your index finger, ensuring you still had your amulet against falling with child. You would take him to bed for a night or two, and he would pass through town, a distant memory. 

“Would you escort us? It’s much harder to fight in these skirts.” Reminding him that you were a fighter seemed to put him at ease, and he offered you an arm. 

You walked arm in arm with Hardwon, you knew Shen and Moonshine were somewhere behind you, followed by a few ladies carrying your offerings for the great mother. 

“I wanted to thank you again,” Hardwon’s voice seemed to reverberate in your chest, “and tell you that I know what it feels like to grow up before my time. I was… uh.. I was raised in a dwarfanage. As a result I’ve been working on tearing down some of the walls I put up. Finding my party, he smiled back at Moonshine. They’ve been people I could lean on. If you want. I mean I know I’m leaving soon, but, you can put your walls down with me if you want.”

“That’s very generous of you,” you avoided his eyes, that was the one thing you couldn’t do. Letting your walls down with him would pave the way for you to get attached. Your whole life was dedicated to the betterment of your people. Loving Hardwon would never serve that purpose. 

What was going on in your head. You had only known the man for a day. If that. You had always rolled your eyes at Shen, falling head over heels for any pretty girl who looked her way. Did she always feel like this? Was it always this hard to breathe?

“We’re here,” you nodded to the white marble temple up ahead. He nodded and smiled, looking at the temple suspiciously.

“I have a thing with gods… Too many of them want me,” he grimaced and took a step back from the temple. 

“They… they want you?” What in the world did that mean? 

“I’ll tell you later” he sighed, “it's a long story.”

With one more baffled glance you took a basket filled with grain from the fall harvest and walked the marble steps with your sister. Carefully you placed the basket on the white stone table in front of you, before kneeling on the ground looking up at the wooden statue of a young woman in a green dress, her head adorned with a crown of flowers. Closing your eyes you prayed in unison with your sister. 

_ Great Mother, full of grace, we come as your humble servants to ask for your mercy. Please bless our crops, or people, and our health as we live in your name.  _

You knelt for another moment, in silent reflection, praying for peace to finally befall Riverbend.  _ Please Great Mother _ , you begged silently, _ protect my people.  _

You felt a hand on your shoulder, and your eyes fluttered open. Standing, your eyes widened to see a stranger before you, her features severe with long pointed ears, what you had always thought to be a crown you could now tell were flowers blooming directly from her hair, her dress was the brilliant emerald of a hillside in spring. 

“Mother,” you bent your head in reverence. 

“My child,” she took you hard and you slowly lifted your graze to meet hers, “My favored daughter. I have come to ask your forgiveness.”

“My forgiveness? Why would you need that. I-” The goddess cut you off with a gently smack to the back of your hand. 

“You always were impertinent. It’s one of the reasons I like you. But yes. You have lived a life with much hardship, and I fear the end of those hardships has not yet come. I want to advise you on what is to come.”

“Yes, of course. Great Mother I bow to your wisdom,” you began to tremble, it was all beginning to be too much. 

“There is a time coming,” the mother spoke, “When you’ll have the chance to live your life as you have, or a chance to leave on another path.”

“Leave? I can’t leave Riverbend. My people need me.” The great mother silenced you with a look.

“You  _ must _ leave, child. You will know the right time. And not only that, but you must face your fears. You must learn to share your burdens with those around you. Share with your sister, who can take your place while you are gone. Share with your people, so that they can take up the mantle and fight for their own well being. Perhaps… share with a man, who has offered himself as sacrifice.”

“But” your voice was not much more than a whisper, “they are strangers.”

“They are heroes. They are the key to everything, and they are searching for the last piece to be able to win.”

You blinked once, and she was gone. 


End file.
